Hi all -
Sometimes I have to leave my 98 maxima for about a week at a time. But lately when I do that it I return the battery is fully dead. Yet it’s only 1 week and it’s a new autozone battery. What could be draining the battery for this ? It’s so dead my noco charger doesn’t even pick up anything. Was told to get a negative terminal switch and leave it off when I go away for a week. Any ideas ? Replace the alternator ? Battery is only 3 months old

 

Disconnect battery negative but leave the positive hooked up and wait an hour for the PCM to go to sleep then hook an DVOM with ammeter function and bridge the disconnected battery negative terminal to the battery negative with the DVOM prongs. See how many amps are being drained then compare it to spec, if you're over spec leave the DVOM bridged and pull fuses 1 by one, whichever fuse you pull that makes the DVOM ammeter reading go significantly down is the circuit that has the drain. If you have an aftermarket remote start or alarm generally you should suspect those first. You can also bridge with an incandescent bulb (not LED) test light, whichever fuse is pulled that makes the incandescent light go dim is the circuit that has the drain. It's less exact than ammeter but it works still, LED will not work because even a little bit of juice will make the bulb stay bright.

If you don't want to chase it and the car rarely sits for that week, you can get battery negative terminals with a screw on top that disconnect it quickly if you know it will sit or you can just unhook it. One of my trucks has a drain that will kill a new battery in 3-4 days and has had it for the last decade but i'm not chasing it and if im away for a week I just disconnect battery negative until im back then it fires right up.

 

By any chance do you know if your brake lights stay on after you have turned off your car? I recently had a battery draining issue and turns out some small rubber grommet that had gotten worn and broke off. Replaced that grommet and my draining issues went away. Just my 2 cents

 

Start Here:
Report back with findings!

 

Good suggestion Keith …

I’ve gotten input from Mr. Eric numerous times over the years.

 

so my mechanic said my alternator is fine. But still can not find the power drain. My 98 maxima only has 70k miles. Yesterday I started the car only to find it having an issue getting into idle before having to restart .. I had to apply gas for the first time when starting. Could this be fuel injector issue now ?

 

. Thank you. Yes. I installed the negative battery receptacle switch and will use it when I leave the car alone for days . But still doesn’t explain the issue getting it to idle normal when starting it ..like I have to apply gas now .

 

Do you have the OEM head unit (with tape player)?

Is the tape motor still running even after you remove the key/open the door ?

 

No .. i put in a aftermarket jensen radio

 

Did you even watch the video and do all the steps needed with a DMM to narrow down what fuse is where the short/drain is coming from?

Your response didn't even come close to sounding like you did anything that video would take you through to help yourself.

 

Awesome video to help you younger enthusiast out...Super straight forward and never a left on switch in my experiences unfortunately...Lol.

 

MY CD player was draining mine. Disconnect fuse labeled audio from box. The draining should stop. Another possibility could be the Trunk light stays on while its closed.

 

Not intending to insult anyone … but, perhaps try this.

Open the rear seat/trunk pass-through.

Lower the driver and passenger visors, but don’t open the vanity mirrors.

After dark or while in a closed/dark garage, simply look at the car.

Are any interior lights, including the vanity mirrors, illuminated or is the trunk light on?

 

I have a parasitic draw in my car that I need to chase down. These are the two best videos I found on how to do it:



and



There is not going to be an easy answer or solution to your problem, you're going to have to put in some work.